Xie Changgeng traveled early in the morning and slept at night, and returned to Xie County half a month later.
He arrived at home late at night and knocked on the door at first, but the doorman was sleeping soundly and unaware. He was afraid that the noise would wake up his mother, so he simply climbed over the wall and went straight to the east wing where he lived.
The door was ajar. He pushed it open, lit an oil lamp on the table, raised his eyes, and his sight fell on the bed opposite.
The double bed curtains were hooked by a pair of golden hooks, hanging quietly on both sides. The mandarin duck pillow and red quilt on the bed were still there. The room was chilly and cold.
After suppressing the rebellion of King Jiangdong, he had to report on his work as usual, but his trip to Changsha had delayed him for some time, and now he had to go to Beijing urgently.
He seldom went home in recent years, and felt guilty when thinking of his widowed mother. After leaving Changsha this time, he wanted to go back early, try to make some time, spend more time with his mother, and then leave home again.
I don’t know when I will be able to return next time, so I have to hurry back this time.
The moment had finally arrived. He was a little tired after traveling for days. Just as he was about to put down his luggage and change his clothes, he heard a gentle knock on the door behind him.
He opened the door.
A young woman holding a candlestick in her hand was standing outside the door. She had a pretty face and her hair was loose, with a black lock hanging on her chest. She had a light green jacket on her shoulders to keep warm. The collar was loose, revealing the front of a pink jacket underneath.
She looked as if she had just gotten out of bed.
Seeing him appear in the door, her face showed surprise, her eyes lit up, and she called him "brother-in-law".
This woman is Lingfeng from the Qi family.
Xie Changgeng was slightly startled, then raised his eyes and looked towards a nearby ear room.
The door was half open.
Obviously, she should have come out of this ear room just now.
"Just now I heard some noise in this room, so I got up to take a look. I didn't expect it was you, my brother-in-law, who came back..."
She paused, raised her eyes and looked inside.
"Madam should have returned with her brother-in-law, right?"
Xie Changgeng said nothing.
She probably also noticed that the Mu family girl did not go back with him. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Is it cold in the house? My family didn't know that you would come back tonight, so they are not prepared. Brother-in-law, please go in quickly. I will light a stove for you to warm yourself up first..."
After she finished speaking, she hurried into the house.
"When did you move here?"
Xie Changgeng did not give way and asked her.
Qi Lingfeng's face flushed slightly, and she whispered, "I just came here a few days ago... The old lady caught a cold by accident, and Qiuju couldn't take good care of her, so I came to take care of her. After the old lady recovered, she would not let me leave, and arranged for me to live here, asking me to wait for my brother-in-law and the lady to come back, and then..."
Her voice died down and she lowered her eyes.
A gust of night wind blew and blew out the candle in her hand.
The surroundings suddenly fell into darkness.
"...Brother-in-law..."
She raised her head and called out softly.
The night was hazy. Her shadow moved slightly.
"Madam won't be back for the time being. It's inconvenient for you to stay here. Go back tomorrow."
Xie Changgeng said this in a gentle tone, then walked out of the house and headed towards the main house where his mother lived.
When he arrived at the door, he happened to meet Ah Mao who came out to relieve himself in the middle of the night.
Ah Mao was shrunken in the house with his neck shrunk, eyes narrowed, arms clasped tightly, and yawning, when he ran into Xie Changgeng unexpectedly. He was startled and screamed, recognizing it was him. He exclaimed again, turned around, and ran inside.
"Madam! I'm back—"
She opened her voice and yelled.
Xie Changgeng wanted to stop her, but hesitated, stopped, and let her run in while shouting.
Soon, the lights in the room came on.
"Geng'er, are you back? Come in quickly!"
Accompanied by the sound of people getting up, Xie's mother's voice came from the room.
Xie Changgeng walked in with a smile on his face, and helped her sit back on the edge of the bed.
When Xie's mother saw her son, she was very happy. She held his hand and asked him about the journey. The mother and son exchanged a few words, and she glanced at the door.
"Where are the Mu family members?"
Xie Changgeng paused, turned around, and ordered Qiuju and Amao to go out.
"Mu didn't reply."
Xie's mother was stunned. "You went to pick her up, why didn't she come back with you?"
"She was spoiled since she was little. When she came here, she probably couldn't adapt to the climate here. She didn't tell you at the time. When she left, she was actually a little unwell. So my son didn't ask her to come back. He asked her to stay there and slowly recover."
Mother Xie frowned. "That's how it is! Why didn't she tell me that she was not feeling well that day? Since she called me mother-in-law, am I the kind of person who doesn't care about her life or death?"
Xie Changgeng did not respond.
She sighed and complained softly, "I knew it! When she came in that day, the first time I saw her, she was so delicate and her body looked like it would fall over if the wind blew. She didn't look like a woman who would be blessed with good childbearing. How could she compare to Feng'er..."
She seemed to have suddenly remembered something, and a smile appeared on her face again. She said with a smile: "Geng'er, mother has something to tell you. Feng'er is here. I don't know if you saw her just now. I thought that she will soon be a member of our family anyway, so I let her live with you. When you come back this time, stay at home for a few more days. Mother will pick a good day to take care of Feng'er's matter. It will also be considered as putting an end to my worries for many years."
Xie Changgeng said, "Mother, I was just about to tell you this. Since Mrs. Mu hasn't come back yet, let's wait a little longer. It's not convenient now. Second Madam Qi will not be able to live in that room in the future. If you are better, let her go back."
Mother Xie was unhappy: "I have told her about this before, and she herself promised me to make the decision! If she doesn't come back, will Feng'er keep waiting? Feng'er is not young anymore, she is almost 20 years old! She has waited for you for so many years, how long do you want her to wait?"
"Mother, Mu is the principal wife. If she is not here for this kind of thing, it would be against the rules if we bring someone in..."
"I'm still your mother!"
Xie's mother interrupted her son.
"I don't care about the rules outside. This is Xie County! I have lived for most of my life and have never heard of a mother-in-law having to look at her daughter-in-law's behavior!"
"Mother, listen to me, it's really inconvenient to let people in now..."
Xie's mother stared at her son intently.
"Geng'er, your mother tore through three days and three nights to give birth to you. One foot was close to death, but luckily she survived. Your father studied so much for nothing, but he didn't get a good name. In the end, he only worked as a postmaster. How much income could the family have? You were smart since you were young. I spun yarn and played hemp every day to support your studies, hoping that you could make a name for yourself. I raised you with great difficulty and finally saw some hope, but you killed someone again! During those years, I was scared and helpless, and it was the Qi family who took care of me."
"You may have forgotten it a long time ago, but mother has not forgotten it, and dare not forget it! That year, the village suffered a flood, and Feng'er's family took me to escape. When we were crossing the bridge, the bridge was suddenly washed away by the water, and both people and the car fell into the water. Feng'er's mother and I were in the car at the time. If Feng'er hadn't hugged the bridge pillar and held mother's hand tightly, mother would have been fed to the fish! Mother survived, but Feng'er's own mother was gone!"
"Our Xie family not only owes the Qi family a favor, but also owes her life! In my eyes, Feng'er is closer to me than my own daughter! Later, I learned that you had arranged a marriage outside, and there was no way to change it, so I had to give up. It was already unfair to her to let her be a concubine. If you don't want her now, I tell you, mother will not live!"
Xie's mother wiped her tears as she spoke.
Xie Changgeng frowned, hesitated for a moment, stood up, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed solemnly.
"Mother, I am an unfilial son. I have made you worry and fear since you were young, and now I have disappointed you to this extent. It's not that I don't want to do this, but it's really inconvenient now..."
"What's the inconvenience?"
"Mother has been at home for a long time, so she doesn't know some things outside. Welcoming someone is a small matter in the backyard, but it's better to be safe than sorry. If the Changsha Mu family thinks it's disrespectful to them, it will be troublesome. Besides, my son is now a high-ranking official, and he has many enemies in the court. I don't know how many eyes are watching him from behind. If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext. Although this matter is small, it is possible that someone with ulterior motives will catch it and make a big fuss about it."
Xie's mother was a little surprised, and looking at her son's serious expression, she gradually stopped crying.
Xie Changgeng got up from the ground.
"Mother, how dare I forget the kindness Qi has shown me? I feel that you have wronged her with this arrangement. This is not the only way to repay you. Why don't you treat her as your adopted daughter? In the future, if I can achieve my wish, I will treat her well and repay her for saving me that day..."
Before he could finish his words, a man came in from the door and knelt on the ground.
Qi Lingfeng kowtowed to Xie's mother and choked up, "Old Madam, I am grateful for your kindness to Feng'er. If Feng'er causes a rift between you and your son, I will be guilty of a thousand deaths! Please don't force him anymore. Feng'er will go back to my brother tomorrow."
Mother Xie hurried over to help her up, comforted her, turned to look at her son, frowned: "Look, Feng'er is so sensible. Compared with the Mu girl you married, you should know who is better and who is worse! Since Feng'er herself said so, let's put this matter aside for now. But now that everyone is here, it's not good for her to go back to her brothers. Let her stay at home as my goddaughter first, and wait for the Mu girl to come back!"
Xie Changgeng did not make any more comments. He hummed vaguely a few times, said it was late at night, asked his mother to go and have some rest, and then left.
He returned to the east wing, bolted the door, picked up his luggage, and walked to the cabinet. When he grasped the door handle, he paused and suddenly remembered something.
After hesitating for a moment, he slowly opened the cabinet door.
What I saw was the same as last time.
The wardrobe is filled with women's clothes. I don't know what kind of fragrance is in the sachet, but after so long, the fragrance is still there.
In front of Xie Changgeng's eyes, the scene that hurt his eyes on the beauty's bed that day seemed to reappear.
Pomegranate red skirt, light haze and thin silk.
It is unbelievable that he appears noble in public but is so dissolute in private.
He glanced at the clothes she left in the closet, and it seemed as if he saw her face. A trace of disgust emerged in his eyes, and he closed the closet door with a "bang".
The next day, Xie Changgeng went to the main house early and served his mother breakfast with his own hands. After breakfast, he told his mother that the court was still waiting for him to report on his work in Beijing, and he was afraid that he could no longer fulfill his filial piety at home, so he came back this time just to say goodbye to his mother.
Xie's mother was very reluctant to let him go, but her son's future was important, so how could she delay? She nodded in agreement, packed his luggage for him, and was supported by Qi Lingfeng as she walked him out.
Xie Changgeng told his servants to take good care of his mother, and then he left home. After another long journey, he finally arrived in Shangjing at the end of the month.
He already had a house granted to him in the capital, which was fully staffed with servants. After entering the house, he took a bath and rested, preparing to report on his work in court the next day.
Late at night, a secret letter from the palace was quietly delivered to him.
The secret letter came from a eunuch named Cao Jin in Liu's harem.
This eunuch was a disciple of the eunuch Yang who served Empress Liu. He had been Xie Changgeng's man since two years ago.
It was a routine that every time Xie Changgeng returned to Beijing, he would receive the news that night.
This time is no exception.
What Cao Jin brought out were some things that happened in the court or the palace when Xie Changgeng was away.
He already knew most of it.
But there was one thing that caught Xie Changgeng's attention.
Cao Jin said that the internal historian Zhang Ban had entered the palace a few days ago to ask for an audience with Empress Liu. At that time, his advice was private and he did not know the details, but what Zhang Ban said seemed to be related to the State of Changsha.
Since the Jiedushi has a good marriage alliance with the Changsha State, I will tell him the news as soon as I get it for his reference.
After reading it, Xie Changgeng held the letter close to the candle flame.
He stared at the paper that was slowly turning into ashes in the flames, lost in thought for a long time.